Ace on the Mound: Nolan Krogman living up to the family name for Brookings

BROOKINGS – Nolan Krogman has only taken the mound five times for the Brookings Bandits senior legion baseball team this season, but every time he’s put up impressive numbers.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Krogman is having success this summer as he comes from a long line of baseball players in his family.

Krogman is in between his sophomore and junior year of high school and has put together a dominant stat line so far this year. He’s pitched 32 and a third innings and given up just four earned runs in his five starts. He’s given up 12 hits and has 34 strikeouts and five walks. He’s 4-1 on the season with a 1.19 earned run average and that average was under one until he gave up a run for the first time in three starts on July 7.

Krogman played for the varsity team this spring and said it took awhile for him to get back into baseball form after the quick turnaround from the hockey season to baseball. He also said he’s been able to not allow free bases this summer.

“In the spring it took me a minute to get my arm in shape. Now, working out and being able to throw 90-100 pitches, I kind of gained a lot of arm strength, and overall I feel awesome right now. … I’ve been mixing in different pitches and kind of pitching backwards. I’ve been doing a good job of keeping walks to a minimum, that’s been a big thing,” Krogman said.

Krogman has found a routine this summer as his spot in the Bandits’ rotation has mostly come on Tuesday’s. In his first start of the season, he pitched a complete game shutout and gave up just two hits against Sioux Falls West in an 8-0 win on June 10. His only loss of the season came on June 16 and he gave up three earned runs on six hits, but he had 10 strikeouts in a 3-2 defeat to Renner.

Krogman bounced back from that loss with back-to-back shutout victories. He pitched a combined 12 innings in those two games and gave up four hits with 17 strikeouts and two walks. On July 7 he pitched six and two thirds against Mitchell and gave up one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

Krogman said the routine of pitching once a week has helped keep his arm fresh.

“The routine is awesome. It's been every Tuesday all summer and I have enough time to recover, and I feel great every day that I'm starting. I'm thankful that I get that schedule to go off of, so I can kind of get into a routine, and now in terms of lifting and recovery, everything that I kind of need to do to be at my best every Tuesday,” Krogman said. 

Krogman’s head coach, Carter Roach, said he’s noticed that Krogman is feeling comfortable on the mound and also thinks that the schedule has played a big part in that.

“He played hockey right up until our season and I think the biggest thing [in his success this summer] is that his arm is back in shape where he feels comfortable. I mean he has regained arm strength and is just in a really good place right now where his body feels good and his arm feels good, and we have a really good schedule of when he throws and he knows that,” Roach said.

This is the first season that Krogman has played legion baseball. He said the jump to pitching against some older kids was tough in the spring, but he’s now more confident as the legion season is past the midway point.

“The spring varsity season, I had a couple of rough outings, but I’ve kind of gotten into a groove here in the summer. I’m super comfortable up there attacking and I feel more confident. … I’ve been working a lot on my off speed pitches and have been getting a lot more arm strength. I think mixing in my pitches has kind of carried me through the summer, for sure,” Krogman said.

Having the name Krogman on the back of your jersey does come with some pressure in the city of Brookings. It all started with his Grandpa Dean, who played both baseball and football at South Dakota State. Dean Krogman was named to the Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame in 2000 as he hit .350 with 100 hits and 17 home runs in his collegiate baseball career. He also was a defensive end and place kicker for the Jackrabbit football team.

Nolan’s dad, Aaron, and his two uncles, Ryan and Matt, also played baseball for South Dakota State. Ryan Krogman was inducted to the Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame in 2022. He donned the yellow and blue from 1991-1994 and had a .347 batting average with 211 hits. He ranks in the SDSU top 10 in career runs scored (160), runs batted in (154) bases on balls (100) and putouts (814). Ryan and Dean became the first father-son duo to be inducted to the Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame.

Nolan Krogman said he’s learned a lot from his family members and he wants to make sure that people continue to think highly of the Krogman name when it comes to baseball.

“They’re all super supportive and they’re the reason I love baseball and started playing. I kind of like to keep the name alive and they’re a big part of my baseball career so far. I mean I’m playing for myself, but just as much as I am playing for them. It’s a big name [in Brookings] and I’d like to live up to it,” Krogman said.

Roach knows a lot about the history of baseball in Brookings and said it’s fun to have another member of the Krogman family have success on the Bandits.

“It’s really cool for me, as a coach, getting to see another generation of Krogman help Brookings to success. Krogman and baseball, that just goes hand in hand. I’m sure he gets a lot of insight. I know him and his dad talk a lot and I’m sure he gets a lot of pointers at home,” Roach said.

Krogman also excels at hockey and will have to make a decision in the next two years if he wants to play either sport collegiately like some of his family members. He said he’s thought about it already but knows there’s time to make that decision.

“It’s definitely something that I think about frequently. I think I’ve still got some time to decide, so I don’t know exactly what I want to do yet. But yeah, it’s definitely a decision that I need to start focusing on here in a little bit,” Krogman said.

Right now, he’s focused on helping the Bandits make the Class A Legion Baseball State Tournament at the end of the month. The Bandits will close out the regular season this week and then will play in a three-game playoff series in an attempt to clinch one of the eight spots in the State Tournament. The State Tournament will be held July 28-Aug. 1 in Rapid City and Krogman said if the Bandits want to make it, they have to play with confidence and stay hot.

“I think we just have to keep playing with confidence and have to keep winning. I think we’ve hit our stride and we’re on a little bit of a hot streak [right now in league play]. I think we’re going to go into the state tournament and regionals hot, and I’m just excited,” Krogman said.